Get more clients by being yourself (even if you’re nothing special)

January 18, 2013 by
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An unremarkable undergrad at an unremarkable college is in talks with a prestigious Wall Street investment firm for a coveted internship, on the strength of the cover letter he sent with his resume. The letter has been called the ‘best cover letter ever’ and has gone viral throughout the investment world and on the Internet.

The article reporting the story put it this way:

“Rather than inflating his qualifications and bragging about his grades or past job experiences, the humble applicant simply stated his case and matter-of-factly asked for an internship–even if it meant shining shoes.”

He added: “I have no unbelievably special skills or genius eccentricities.”

You can read the letter and the rest of the story here.

So, great story, huh? Boy meets (investment) world. Boy lands big internship. Boy makes his mom proud.

Nice. But what does it have to do with marketing legal services?

Here’s what:

It deftly illustrates a timeless direct marketing principle–the supremacy of the sales letter. It wasn’t this young man’s resume that got the job. It was the letter. Similarly, your CV or list of accomplishments won’t get clients to hire you. Not by itself. You need a sales letter.

Let me show you what I mean by taking you on a stroll down memory lane.

Remember back before email when we all got a lot of direct mail solicitations in our mailboxes? For various goods and services, magazines, record clubs, insurance, and such? The mailing has several components and each plays a role in getting the sale.

First, the envelope.

Oh yes, the envelope is a sales tool. Direct mail experts consider (and test) the size and shape of the envelope, the color, the stamp, the address (label, print, or hand written), and the copy–the words printed on the outside of the envelope. It is those words that get the recipient to open the envelope (or not). Envelope copy grabs you (or doesn’t) and that determines whether or not you open the dang thing. Just like the “subject” line in an email today.

Inside the envelope is the sales letter and other documents. These may include a brochure or leaflet, a booklet of testimonials, a guarantee, an order form, a return envelope, and perhaps various “involvement devices” like stamps or tokens you’re supposed to affix to a the order form to indicate your preference.

Let’s compare that package to your web site.

You get people to “open” your web site with your “envelope copy”–the title and description of your site in search engines or in an ad, for example. Your description or ad piques their interest and they click through to your site.

In a mailing, the brochure and other components provide supporting materials: facts, details, proof. People buy for emotional reasons and justify their decision with logic and facts. The brochure supplies the latter.

On your web site, your brochure takes form in articles, FAQs, and a list of accomplishments. This is the supporting data that helps people justify their decision to take the next step towards hiring you.

Other content that supports this might be a page that offers a pledge or guarantee, involvement devices like polls (or results), videos, checklists, forms, and the like. These get people to spend more time on your site.

All of this content helps. But it is the sales letter that gets them to act.

On your web site, your sales letter might be on a welcome page or your “About” page. It might be a video. You greet the visitor and tell them what you can do for them. You tell them about yourself and do your best to connect with them. You want them to feel good about you and trust you. If they do, they’ll read some of your other content to learn the details.

The sales letter is the most important part of the mail package and your web site. It has to connect with the reader and do a complete sales job. There’s no sales person sitting with them or on the phone so the letter has to do all the talking. It has to tell the story, answer questions, overcome objections, and close the deal. In a mailing package, it has to get the order. On your web site, your sales letter has to get the visitor to call, fill out a form, or opt into your email list.

Now, how did this young college student with ostensibly no sales or marketing experience write such an effective sales letter? How did he stand out in a sea of competition?

He did it by ignoring what everyone else does and what conventional wisdom says he should do.

He wrote from the heart. Straight talk. No hype, no pretense. “Here I am, nothing special. I’m reasonably intelligent and I’ll work hard. Give me any job, I want to learn.”

He told the “buyer” what they wanted wanted to hear. Not because he knew what they wanted to hear, but because he didn’t know what else to say except the unvarnished truth.

It worked because he was refreshingly honest.

People don’t want “canned” and “commercial”. They want “real” and “believable.” If you can deliver that, they’ll pay attention, and if they want what you offer, they’ll buy.

The most critical job of the sales letter is getting the reader to pay attention. Employers sort resumes with a bias towards trashing them. They read only a handful that have a cover letter that catches their attention.

Web visitors do the same thing. When they arrive at a web site, they look for reasons to click away. Your “sales letter” has to get them to stay.

When you write your sales letter, you should do what this young man did. Be yourself. Tell your story, warts and all. Okay, maybe you can hide some of the warts, but keep it real and talk to them from the page like you would if you were talking face to face.

Don’t give them the packaged and polished (and boring) stuff you see coming from most attorneys. If you don’t grab them, you’ve lost them. If you don’t get their attention, it won’t matter how impressive your accomplishments might be, nobody will see them.

So here’s what I want you to do. Write a letter to a prospective client. Tell him why he should hire you. Tell him what you can do for him or his company and how you’ll work hard to do it. Imagine you’re sitting with him in a coffee shop, just the two of you. What would you say to get his attention and make your case?

Write that down.

I’m not suggesting that you’ll write something brilliant that will go viral on the Internet and be called the “greatest lawyer letter ever”. In fact, nobody will see this letter because you’re not going to send it to anyone.

But you might just get some ideas you can use on your web site or the next time you write an email or a blog post. You might just write something that reaches out and touches someone and makes them want to hear more.

Human beings are starved for real communication. A lot of people don’t even talk on the phone anymore, they “talk” with their thumbs. So when they hear a real person who speaks plainly and openly, without pretense or affectation, they listen.

To college students, and even to lawyers.

Learn more. Earn more. Get the Attorney Marketing Formula.

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Filed Under: Closing the sale, Communication, Copywriting, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Salesmanship Tagged With: , ,

Law practice development tools: sports, museums, and hip hop

January 8, 2013 by
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I read a lot about marketing and productivity. That’s my field and I need to keep up. Most of what I read, however, is cumulative: things I know, things I already do and teach. There are occasional new twists on old ideas and changes in technology keep things fresh and interesting. But by and large, when you are an expert, unless you are doing original research, you already know what there is to know.

If you’ve been practicing for more than a few years, you may feel the same way about your area of expertise. Still, we read. There is always something new, something we can learn. But if we only read in our areas of expertise, eventually, we get stale.

I get some of my best ideas from reading about things that have nothing to do with marketing or the law. I read blogs and magazines and listen to radio. I talk to people in different fields. I pay attention to what’s going on in my neighborhood and in world politics. I’m not interested in sports but I know that Alabama just clobbered Notre Dame. I’ve never listened to Justin Bieber or One Direction but I know who they are.

I encourage you to read broadly, outside your field. Keep your eyes and ears open to what is going on around you, in sports and pop culture. Study history and economics. Listen to TED talks on science and psychology.

Alfred Whitehead, said, “Novel ideas are more apt to spring from an unusual assortment of knowledge – not necessarily from vast knowledge, but from a thorough conception of the methods and ideas of distinct lines of thought.”

The more diversity you have in your knowledge, the more ideas you will have and the more interesting you will be in conversation, in writing and speaking, and as a lawyer doing your job.

Would you like to earn more than you ever thought possible? Click here to find out how.

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Filed Under: Communication, Marketing legal services, Personal development, Presentations, Public Speaking, Writing

Why Bill Clinton wants to touch you

January 7, 2013 by
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Have you ever watched how Bill Clinton shakes hands. He doesn’t just clasp your right hand in his, he also touches your arm with his left hand. During the conversation, as he makes a point, he might reach out again to touch your arm or put his hand on your shoulder.

Clinton’s use of nonsexual touching is, arguably, one of the reasons people seem to like him so much. (No comments about his alleged use of other kinds of touching, however.)

According to psychologists, touch “can influence behavior, increase the chances of compliance, make the person doing the touching seem more attractive and friendly, and can even you help make a sale.”

Tests have shown that when touched, people are more likely to comply with requests, more likely to provide help, and more likely to buy. And touching more than once seems to increase these results.

Indiscriminate touching, however, could backfire. In a school or work place setting, any kind of touching could be misinterpreted. In some cultures, touching is generally less welcome than in others. And some individuals don’t like to be touched under any circumstances.

By and large, the rewards are probably worth the risks. Just use common sense when meeting someone new. A pat on the arm or the shoulder is probably safe. A lingering full body hug, probably not a good idea, even for Bill Clinton. Especially for Bill Clinton.

Earn more in 2013. Click here to learn more.

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Filed Under: Communication, Networking Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Do you know what your client knows?

December 28, 2012 by
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When I opened my first law office shortly after law school, I volunteered one day a week at a legal clinic. I got some experience dealing with real people and I got a few paying clients.

Most of those clients were family law related. I had filed a few uncontested divorces but knew nothing about the grittier aspects of family law. A friend of mine from law school was also working there and I told him I thought I was in over my head. He told me not to worry, the clients would point me in the right direction.

The clinic’s clients were poor, mostly women, and mostly those who had suffered through bad marriages and abusive husbands. They had first hand knowledge of the concept of “domestic violence”. They knew what it meant to get a restraining order. They knew what they had to prove because they had either gone through the process before or they knew women who had. Sure enough, they pointed me in the right direction. In fact, many of them brought the correct court forms with them.

I learned a lesson that day. I learned to never assume anything about what my client did or did not know. True, most clients don’t know what we lawyers do, but some do.

Today, because of the Internet, many prospective clients know a lot about the law. They read articles and blog posts. They chat with others in forums. They watch or listen to seminars. When you talk to them, it is dangerous to assume that they don’t know anything. But it is equally dangerous to assume that they do.

The best course is to make no assumptions. Ask questions and find out what they know:

  • Do you have any experience with this issue?
  • Have you talked to any other attorneys about this?
  • Is this your first claim?
  • What are you looking to accomplish?

Listen to their answers. Listen to their questions. Also, pay attention to what they don’t say and don’t ask.

Many prospective clients today have incorrect or incomplete information. They think they know the way things are and their expectations are based on what they “know”. This is when you have to be especially careful. You have to help them understand the ways things really are without making them look bad or feel embarrassed.

On the other hand, sometimes clients know things we don’t know. They’ve lived with an issue longer, dug a little deeper, found the loopholes. We must never assume that because we went to law school and they didn’t that we are right and they are wrong. If they can point you in the right direction, let them.

Never make assumptions about what your clients know. Or about what you know.

If you want to earn more in the new year, I can help you. Start here.

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Filed Under: Client relations, Communication, Personal development

Getting the words right in the opening of your next presentation

December 10, 2012 by
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How would you describe “Getting Things Done” to an audience of people who, it must be assumed, know nothing about the subject?

I’m doing a presentation this week to just such a group. I have no more than 45 minutes, so obviously, this will be an introduction. I hope to explain the basic ideas and get them interested in learning more. I’m going to use my blog post, “The Ten Commandments of Getting Things Done,” as the basis for my talk.

But where do I start? How do I quickly get their attention and show them why they should listen?

I was thinking about this as I was looking at my first slide, which has the title of David Allen’s book. It occurred to me that this is where I should begin.

The book’s title, “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity,” does a great job of describing the subject, as well as the benefits. It tells you what the book is about and what’s in it for the reader. So in my opening, that’s what I’ll talk about.

It will go something like this. . .

“Have you ever been frustrated because you’re not getting things done? The days fly by and you realize how much you haven’t done that day or that week, and before you know it, it’s the new year and you realize that you haven’t made a dent in the goals you set last year. It is frustrating, isn’t it?

Then, someone tells you about this great system for getting your whole life organized and you try it, but it’s so complicated, you spend all your time organizing your stuff and even less time getting things done. Or maybe you learn the system and it works for you, but then you find that while you’re getting things done, you’re not getting the right things done.

‘Getting Things Done’ is a book that promises to change all that. It’s about ‘Productivity’–which means getting the RIGHT things done, the most important things done, in a way that’s ‘stress-free’. If you use the system in this book, you’ll start each day knowing what you need to do that day and you won’t worry about forgetting anything important. Take a deep breath and imagine what your life will be like when you have everything under control.

This evening, I’m going to show you some of the basic ideas behind this system. . .

I’ve explained the subject of the book and shown them the benefits. I think they’ll pay attention, don’t you?

The most important part of any presentation is the opening. That’s when you sell the audience (reader, judge, jury) on listening to what you are about to tell them. When you get the opening words right, the battle is half won. When you don’t, well, you better be loud or you better be funny because that audience is thinking about what they have to do that day and not listening to you.

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Filed Under: Communication, Copywriting, Productivity, Public Speaking Tagged With: ,

Please retweet this!

December 5, 2012 by
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A fundamental precept in marketing is that you get a higher response when you tell people what to do. Tell them to buy, tell them to sign up, tell them to call, and more people will.

The infographic below, about The Art of Getting Retweets, has some interesting stats about the best days and times to tweet, optimal tweet length, and the use of urls and hashtags for maximum retweetability. It also offers compelling statistics that support the efficacy of telling (asking) people what to do:

“Please retweet” has a 51% retweet rate followed by “PleaseRT” which has a 39% retweet rate. Using neither of the two yields only a 12% retweet rate.

The Art of Getting Retweets
Courtesy of: Quick Sprout

Frequency of asking for a retweet must be a factor. Someone who constantly asks for a retweet, like the boy who cried wolf, probably doesn’t get a lot of retweets. It is the rarity of this request that undoubtedly gets people’s attention and compliance.

Although it is not stated in the infographic, it is also well known that a higher response occurs when you also tell people why they should do what you ask. This may be due to associated scarcity and fear of loss implied in a statement like, “Buy now before our prices go up,” but there’s evidence that that’s not the only reason.

I read about one psychological study involving a long queue at a copy machine in a college library. A female “student,” holding a sheet of paper, asks the person at the front of the line if she can cut in. When she gives them a reason for needing to cut in line, she gets a significantly higher percentage of the subjects to agree. What was remarkable about the study is that it didn’t matter what reason the student gave for asking to cut in line. Even when the “reason” was as empty as, “. . .because I need to make a copy. . .,” she got a higher response.

So telling people what to do and giving them a reason, no matter how weak that reason may be, will increase response.

Put this in your notes because you should should have this in your notes.

(Did you?)

Buy The Attorney Marketing Formula. Excellent reason: You’ll get more clients and increase your income.

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Filed Under: Communication, Copywriting, Marketing legal services, Writing Tagged With: , ,

How to write something when you don’t know where to start

November 1, 2012 by
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It’s November and you know what that means? NaNoWriMo!

What’s that? You don’t know about National Novel Writing Month? I wrote about it last November when I shared some thoughts about “Writers’ Block”.

You may not aspire to be the next John Grisham, but if you’ve ever struggled to write something you’ve never written before, and you don’t know where to start, I have a possible solution.

When I was in high school, my parents had a friend who created several TV shows, wrote screenplays, non-fiction, and music. He also did some acting. Anyway, he didn’t have a musical background, but he wrote some very clever songs. One day, my father asked him how he did it.

He said he took an existing song he liked and used it’s structure as a template. He changed it, note by note, until he had an original piece that was nothing like the one he started with, except maybe in length, key, and tempo. (Since he couldn’t read music, he recorded himself humming his new tune and had someone transcribe it.)

For the lyrics, he took the original words and changed those word by word, or he found another song he liked and changed those words to create a new song to go with his new music. He used the same technique for creating screenplays.

Instead of writing from scratch, he re-wrote something that was already written. He didn’t plagiarize or steal ideas. He took the original, pared it down to it’s skeleton, and added new flesh and sinew to give life to a completely new creation.

Now don’t get me wrong, the guy had talent. Lots of it. He simply used his note/word-changing technique as a starting point. If I ever write a novel, that’s exactly how I will start.

After all, isn’t “getting started” the hardest part of doing something new? Once you have a first draft, you can make it better. But so many aspiring writers never get started so they never have a first draft they can improve.

If you wanted to use this technique to write the first draft of a novel, find one you like (in the appropriate genre and voice, i.e., “first person detective”) and create a “step outline”–a sequential list of the plot points. Note the number of major characters, when they are introduced, and their role (i.e., friend who encourages, villain, love interest, and so on). How many chapters are there? How long are they? When does the crime take place? When do we meet the hero?

Now you have a story skeleton, but of course it’s for someone else’s story. Your job is to change things, point by point, element by element, to write your own.

Your setting will be different. San Antonio instead of San Clemente. Your characters will be different. If the victim in the original was an insurance investigator who is murdered to cover up a fraudulent claim, your victim might be an accountant who knew too much about his crooked client’s business activities.

You write your own novel, using the structure of the original, but nothing else.

Now I didn’t say yours would be a good novel. That’s easier said than done. But your novel will at least be the right length, number of characters, and have the requisite elements in it. You’ll have a workable first draft.

You can use the same technique to write something much less ambitious, like an article or report. Decide on a topic you want to write about and find a model. How many paragraphs? How many main points? How many bullet points? Use this as a template.

Doing something new is much easier when you have a place to start. Fortunately, you don’t have to invent the place the start. You can follow someone who already finished.

Would you like a template for marketing your legal services? Use this

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Filed Under: Communication, Copywriting, Newsletters, Productivity, Writing Tagged With: , , ,

The most important part of a live presentation

October 31, 2012 by
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Last night I did a one hour presentation. At the end, I was introduced to a young man who had been in the audience. The gentleman who introduced him told me what the young man liked best about the presentation: my suit.

Not my content. Not my delivery. Not my jokes. My suit.

I didn’t know if I should take this as a compliment or an insult. Didn’t he like what I said? After all, he was there for information, not a floor show.

Granted, it was a nice suit and I was wearing a very spiffy red tie, but what about what I said? Did I. . . blow it?

Not at all. He was persuaded by what I said and wanted to take the next step. He just liked my suit.

I thought about this and realized that while content is important, it’s not the only thing you have to get right in a presentation. People look at your appearance. They notice the lighting and sound quality, the music, even the coffee. All of the little things are important and you have to get them right.

A month from now, if this young man thinks about last night he’ll probably remember my suit. Not my name or anything I said. My suit and my snazzy tie. That’s the image he’ll remember. Someone else might remember a song they liked, the hostess’ smile, or a story I told that evoked a pleasant memory.

People rarely remember what you said. And that’s okay. What you say isn’t the most important part of the presentation. The most important part of a presentation, what people remember long after it’s done, is not what you said, it’s how they felt when you were saying it.

When you give your next presentation, whatever the objective–a verdict, a new client, or a response that says “tell me more”–don’t rely solely on your content, however logical and persuasive it might be. You have to get all the little things right, too. Do what you can to make people feel good about you, about what you’re saying, and especially, about themselves. Use humor if you can. Tell stories. Make sure the coffee is good. And wear a nice suit.

The Attorney Marketing Formula really works. More clients, more income. Hey, it’s a formula.

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Filed Under: Communication, Marketing legal services, Presentations

Selling legal services like Apple sells iPhones

September 24, 2012 by
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I went to the Apple store this weekend. As you can imagine, it was packed, buzzing with people who were playing with iPads and Airs and Macs. They were asking about the new iPhone 5. And they were buying.

After the Apple store, I went to a Windows store on the same floor of the mall. Like the Apple store, it was spacious and nicely laid out. There were lots of toys to play with and friendly employees to answer your questions. But unlike the Apple store, there were very few customers. The store was almost empty.

Why the difference?

Nobody needs an Apple product. Everything you need in a computer or tablet or phone you can get from another company, usually for less. So why is Apple poised to become the first trillion dollar company in history?

Marketing.

Apple knows that people buy what they want, not what they need, and so Apple doesn’t spend time talking about how their products are better or that over time, you’ll save money buying a Mac versus a PC. They don’t say Apple is safer or has a shorter learning curve or make a fuss about the quality of their customer service. They know these things are important and they don’t ignore them, but they also know that these aren’t why people buy Apple.

People buy Apple because it’s cool.

But legal services aren’t cool. Nobody stands in line at the door of a law office. This is why Apple is about to become the first trillion dollar company and your firm isn’t.

But you can learn something from Apple and apply it to your marketing.

Apple doesn’t try to convince people they need a computer, a smart phone or tablet. They target people who are already looking for a computer, a smart phone, or tablet. They appeal to people who want the “best” (coolest) and are willing to pay for it.

You should do the same.

Focus on people who know they need a lawyer and are trying to choose the right one. Focus on clients who want the “best” and are willing to pay for it.

Yes, you can also educate your market as to why they need the type of legal services you offer, but spend most of your time and energy on the low hanging fruit: the ones who know they need help and are ready to get it.

Then, show them why they should choose you. Give them all of the reasons. Show them why you are the Apple of legal services. They may not stand in line outside your office but they will want what you offer and pay top dollar to get it.

Want to know how to get clients to choose you? Read The Attorney Marketing Formula and find out.

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Filed Under: Advertising, Communication, Copywriting, Marketing legal services Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Marketing legal services Disney style

September 21, 2012 by
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Disneyland is 40 minutes from me. I think the last time my wife and I went was when our daughter was little, probably twenty years ago. In our mailbox yesterday was an advertising piece from Disneyland. It’s a big booklet filled with nothing but photographs of people having fun at the park. Kids with big smiles and adults looking like kids.

There are very few words in the booklet. No offers, no statistics, no information. Just pictures. But those pictures tell the story. They say, “come back to Disneyland and have fun like these people,” and that’s all they need to say.

Marketing legal services isn’t the same as marketing “The Happiest Place on Earth”. But why can’t lawyers share a little happiness? Instead of delivering a pile of dry information and dreary forecasts, why not show people what their life will be like after they get our help?

Colorful pictures of people having fun, probably not. But colorful stories of people enjoying peace of mind, security, and freedom are always appropriate.

Get The Attorney Marketing Formula and learn how to earn more than you ever thought possible. 

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Filed Under: Advertising, Communication, Marketing legal services Tagged With: , ,
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